Azam Baki, a disgruntled economist, and cracks in the MACC

 

At the centre of the Azam Baki controversy: shareholdings, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and economist Terence Gomez.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s chief, Azam Baki, has been embroiled in a corruption controversy of his own, which has spilled into the new year.

Here’s what we know so far:

Dec 13: MPs from PKR, led by R Sivarasa, demanded an investigation into Azam Baki’s shareholdings. They cited reports that say he purchased close to two million shares and warrants between 2015-2016. Civil servants are not allowed to own more than RM100,000 in shares of any one company, well under the purported value of Azam’s holdings.

Dec 27: Former Universiti Malaya professor Edmund Terence Gomez steps down in protest from his post on the MACC’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel. In his resignation letter, Gomez says he had asked the panel’s chairman Borhan Dolah and other higher-ups at MACC on numerous occasions to discuss the allegations but never saw anything come of it.

This included three emails he claimed he sent to MACC Advisory Board chairman Abu Zahar Nika Ujang to which there was no response.

Jan 5: Abu Zahar and Azam call a press conference at which Abu Zahar said the board had met on Nov 24 and had cleared Azam. Azam explains that his brother, Nasir Baki, had used his account to purchase shares that were later transferred to Nasir’s account. He said this was what he had told the board in November, which had led to his exoneration.

Jan 6: The Securities Commission says they will call Azam in to discuss the shareholdings, stating that shares in a trading account must be bought by the beneficial owner of the account.

Gomez also responded to the blockbuster press conference, asking whether Azam was aware of the rules governing trading accounts. He also asked where Azam’s brother had obtained the hundreds of thousands of ringgit needed to purchase the shares.

He also questioned why, despite the meeting allegedly being held on Nov 24, this was the first anyone was hearing about it; he called for a response from prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who had still not spoken up about the matter.

Anti-graft organisations, NGOs and MPs all called for the resignations of Azam and Abu Zahar.

Jan 8: Six fellow members of the advisory board distance themselves from Abu Zahar’s comments, saying he had given his personal opinion and not the consensus of the board. They also state that the board has no investigative powers and has no right to clear anyone of anything.

That same day, Gomez wrote another open letter questioning whether the Nov 24 meeting had indeed taken place, as he had never been told of it, despite having discussed the share issue with board members in December.

Jan 9: Three MACC deputy chief commissioners backed their boss, alleging that the narrative around his dealings was the result of “revenge politics”. They said the accusations were aimed at undermining the organisation’s credibility.

Jan 11: Abu Zahar holds another press conference, blaming the media for misreporting what he had said earlier. He said the misrepresentations were what prompted his fellow board members to distance themselves from his comments. However, he does not clarify or address what he had said earlier about Azam being cleared by the board. He also did not allow questions from the media. - FMT